"Self Serving"

I’ve been thinking about the term “self serving” as it relates to Christian groups. If self serving describes the act of taking care of oneself, individually, I can see how that would be against everything that Jesus taught. Or, “self serving” could mean taking care of members of the group instead of spending time with those outside the group. I guess some may consider this to be “self serving.” They may think that the great commission Jesus related in Mark 16 as more important than Jesus’ command to love one another or separate these as two different concepts.

Of course, Jesus taught us to serve one another. He made a specific point to show the disciples how to serve one another in John 13 by washing their feet and asking them to follow his pattern. Jesus even taught his followers that their love for each other would be the measure of their love for him and that this love would be the mark of their discipleship.

John 13:34 ¶ "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. "

The unity that this love would produce would also be a testimony to Jesus’ own deity, the connection between himself and the God of love. Paul reiterates these very concepts of service in Gal. 5 when he calls Christians to “serve one another in love.” Peter continues the theme of Christ to serve each other in 1 Peter 4 by calling for Christians to “love each other deeply,” and to “use whatever gift he has received to serve others............. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.”

This service, is actually a life of spiritual worship. The words service and worship are synonymous words. They are both used in the new testament to describe our response to God’s grace. Paul, in Romans 12, defines the spiritual worship that Jesus taught to the Samaritan woman in John 4 as a sacrifice that is pleasing to God. No longer are we asked to perform physical acts of sacrifice to God but are asked to make our lives a living sacrifice of love and service to others which is the fruit that glorifies God. This is the fruit of our love that we now have by virtue of our relationship with Jesus Christ.


John, the apostle whom Jesus loved, and the author of Jesus ministry in his gospel, reminds Christians of this special command of Jesus in his epistles.

1 John 3:11 ¶ This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

1 John 4:7 ¶ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

2 John 1:5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.

Loving one another means serving one another. Serving those fellow Christians who are on the same journey we are on. Serving the body of Christ just like Jesus himself served and gave himself for the body. Denying oneself to serve and build up the body. Edify the body with all we do. Serving the body members means building the body up. This is the command of Jesus.


Paul tells the Galatians of their responsibility towards one an other and reminds them of Jesus’ own words.

Gal. 5:13 ¶ You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Gal. 5:14 The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

And again to the Romans:

Rom. 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Rom. 13:8 ¶ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

By God’s grace, we have all received gifts that we should use to serve others. Peter, himself the recipient of these gifts, encourages Christians to do this very thing in 1 Peter 4 and shows that this service a Christ like action that praises God. Sounds like worship to me!


1 Pet. 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Pet. 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
1 Pet. 4:10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.
1 Pet. 4:11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

More words of encouragement:

Gal. 5:13 ¶ You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature {Or ; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24}; rather, serve one another in love.

Eph. 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Heb. 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

1 Pet. 1:22 ¶ Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. {Some early manuscripts }

1 Pet. 3:8 ¶ Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

1 Pet. 5:14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. ¶ Peace to all of you who are in Christ.


So, the next time someone tells you that your congregation is “self serving,” just say, “Thanks, we are trying to follow God’s will and the example of Jesus.”

Don Campbell